Video in Qualitative Research: Analysing Social Interaction in Everyday Life

Abstract

With the emergence of video as an affordable and accessible technology, its use as a research tool has become increasingly commonplace. As affirmed in the preface to Video in Qualitative Research, as well as by myriad other scholars (see Heritage, 1995; Liddicoat, 2011) this has been a promising development, allowing researchers to capture, review, share, and disseminate data in unprecedented ways. However, the potential advantages of employing video in research are accompanied by the uncertainty of the new: questions of ethics, practicalities, and implications. Video in Qualitative Research situates itself at this juncture. Taking into consideration ethical issues, data collection, data analysis, and communication of findings, Heath, Hindmarch, and Luff aim to provide practical guidance to researchers in the social sciences who wish to use video as a tool. While their book prioritizes the frameworks of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, their informed recommendations are applicable to a wide range of methodologies within the social sciences.